The Thunderdogs

Dear Reader,

About a month ago, I helped Bill Watterson, our Paul, shoot a trailer for Dave Made a Maze. That was a groovy piece that involved one of my favorite materials, cardboard!

Since then, and completely unlike the character Paul he plays on The Squirrel King (well except that he climbs in both shows), the prodigious Bill has been super industrious! Can't wait to hear more about The Thunderdogs.

Keep us installed, Bill. You rock. Literally!
Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Scientists Decode Dreams!

Dear Reader,

It's always fascinating to watch someone dream, and as every parent knows, watching your kids while they sleep is endlessly endearing.

The new extensions we're working on for The Squirrel King have to do with the World of Dreams, so it was particularly interesting to us to see that if we're not fast, scientists might beat us to the punch. Apparently, they've now been able, in a small way, to represent the mystery of that alternative universe!

For a quick step away from art for a moment, check out this NPR article on decoding dreams.

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Wind-up Butterflies

Dear Reader,

It seems only fitting that with summer blooming all around us I happened to stumble across instructions for making your own wind up butterflies!

We're going to take a crack ourselves this weekend and I'm kind of hoping we can fill the air with them.

We'll share our results next week :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

The Bejeweled Octopus

Dear Reader,

Life it often seems has themes. Right now there's an aquatic chord in the air.

While Justus and I have been working on elements of The Squirrel King story that move underwater within the world of dreams, Alien One has been studying the ocean in school.

And we've all been thinking about octopi!

Tasked with modeling this mysterious sea creature, Alien One picked up my personal jewel-encrusted glue-gun ...

... and the fantastic final product!

Simply wow!!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

The Trouble and Strife's Vision

Dear Reader,

For a few months now we've been working to implement the Trouble and Strife's vision for the Aliens' bedroom overhaul. You may recall the work that the mini-stunt squirrels and I started on bookshelves. Well that work has continued!

Without further ado, I'm delighted to share with you the final product of our hard work!

Best of all, the Aliens now have desks at which to think for themselves :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

PS. We're now turning to reinvigorating our living room ... soon to be the art studio! First up, a table with a light :)

Helping Hands

Dear Reader,

The other day I was watching Labyrinth, the classic Jim Henson - David Bowie collaboration of over a quarter century ago, and it struck me just how awesome the practical effects in that movie were. Best of all, and particularly inspiring was the "helping hands" scene, which I found on Youtube for you to enjoy :)


Not sure where this will fit in to The Squirrel King, but I'm thinking somewhere in the world of dreams makes a lot of sense ...

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Hidden Away in the Grass

Dear Reader,

A couple of weeks ago we noticed some activity in our hanging grassy planter. And on closer inspection we found ...

Some baby bird chicks!

And as we watched them grow, it occurred to me that these chirping little chicks were a perfect metaphor for the quiet foundational work happening at Squirrel King headquarters.

With the conclusion of principal production on the first season closing in we've taken some time to step back from what we have and look at where we might go next.

Like the little babies hidden in the grass on our balcony, we see an amazing future, full of possibilities!

And then one day they left the nest - well one of them tried to move into the apartment, but after a tactful negotiation we convinced him there was more to eat outside.

Like the baby chicks we have been looking for the right home for our series, and we've had some fantastic discussions which are taking us in unexpected new directions. Like the cheeky little fellow on the right here we're still looking for the right home, but our story is already in the process of expanding to include the World of Dreams ...

We're still very focused on finishing the first twelve episodes and before that, bringing the mini-stunt squirrels to you, but it's very exciting to think just how much bigger our world is expanding to!

Stay tuned for more :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Peeling off a Big Wave

Dear Reader,

We've been kind of busy with a lot of behind the scenes stuff over the last couple of months (more on that soon), so in the interim, some of the mini-stunt squirrels took a big wave dream holiday.

Here's a happy snap of Ms. Yellow peeling down the face of some big surf. If you look closely, I think she might be giving us a thumbs up :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

A Snail's Pace

Dear Reader,

Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare ... well I'm thinking that the snail fits in there somewhere too :) There hasn't been much to show lately, but let me assure you we are quietly making progress.

Inspiration continues to pour forth from the Aliens, in this case a snail. We've actually shot a few snails throughout, but there is a bigger scene that looms off in the future. For now, we're giving serious thought to the look of the snails, and I for one love this one!

Remember snails only go forward on their slime!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Happy Birthday Justus

Dear Reader,

It's important to celebrate milestones in life, and yesterday there were two big ones: Justus' birthday and Alien Two's birthday wishes for him. Couldn't resist sharing ...


Keep enjoying all the little steps along the way!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Power Drill Yarn Balls

Dear Reader,

After a sequence of slightly inauspicious homemade mechanized yarn ball winders, I've finally got a compromise solution that takes less than 30 seconds to roll a small yarn ball. It involves a power drill ...


And now ... we're yet another step closer to bringing mini-squirrel kits to you!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Balls of Yarn

Dear Reader,

Lately over at The Squirrel King, we have been giving thought to the nuts and bolts of bringing mini-squirrel kits to you.


To achieve this we're looking into die cutting tools for the limbs and ears, and I specifically have been working on a way of automating rolling walnut sized balls of yarn ... the prototype machines I've built so far are not quite as effective as the bike box I got side-tracked on, but I'm still working on it :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Grey's Anatomy

Dear Reader,

Once again you have a chance to catch our Shi Ne - as someone other than our Robin - on regular television. Your favorite, feisty paramedic will lead things off!

Here's the scoop: Thursday, May 2nd at 9pm PST on ABC. And for those of you who will stream it later, the episode is titled: "Do You Believe in Magic?"

Go Shi Ne!!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims